David larkin



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

INYENIUH Patented Aug 13, 1889.

(No Model.)

WI IE'NZEEE-IEE' 2 SheetsSheet 2.

(N0 M06151.) I v -D. LAB-KIN.

MAKING STRAP 0R H001? IRON.

Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

METHOD 0? WIENEEEEE- INY'ENIEJIH afiwww- MM ml/ UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

DAVID LARKIN, OF PI'l"Sl-3URG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, JOHNl3. LARKIN, AND FRANK D. LARKIN, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF MAKING STRAP OR HOOP IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 409,047, dated August13, 1889. Application filed January 18, 1889. Serial No. 296,743. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

lle it known that 1, DAVID LARKIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Iittsburg, in the county of Allcghenyand State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of Manufacturing Strap or Iloop Iron; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which formpart of this specification.

My invention has relation to the manufacture of hoop, cotton-tie band,or other kinds or qualities of metal-work produced by the reduction ofthe material from the billet to a long, narrow, and thin strip by passesthrough successive or a continuous train of reducingrolls.

The obj ect of my invention is to greatly facilitate the reduction ofthe metal by obviating and overcoming the difficulties heretoforeexperienced in handling or working the material during its progressthrough the rolls, and to thereby reduce the cost of production as wellas improve the texture of the finished product.

llerctot'ore, by'reason of the frail teXtrn-o light gage, andsemi-liquid condition of the metal during the pro ess of reduction, ithas been impossible, without manual assistance and skillfulmanipulation, to effect a delivery of the end of the blank afteremerging from one set of rolls to the slot or opening in the next set,while even after the delivery has been accomplished the excess ofmaterial between the rolls, resulting from the elongation of the blank,buckles, vibrates, warps, and sways about in a zigzag course, so as tobe comc-practically unmanageable, thus rendering the manufacture of thegrades of metal referred to impracticable with continuous rolls, andnecessitating the employment of hand-labor and the reduction of powerand motion.

According to the method or process now practiced for the reduction ofmetal from the billet to the long strip, band, or hoop blank, thematerial is passed alternately to and fro and from right to left or leftto right between a single pair of rolls, or is shifted from one pair toanother. This operation is slow and tedious and subject to manydiflicultics, which need not be enumerated.

According to the objects of my invention I purpose placing a number ofsets or trains of rolls located at regular or irregular intervals ofspace with direct reference to the aec0mmodation of the accumulation ofor surplus metal that gathers between the rolls during the reduction,and geared or interlaced so as to feed the material with a continuousmotion in one direction from the start to the finish.

My invention or improvement in the art of rolling or reducing the metallies in the special provision I have made to stiffen or brace thematerial during the intermediate stages of the process, so as tofacilitate and insure its proper delivery from one set of rolls to theother. This provision consists, broadly, in imparting to the blank alateral]y-eurved, dished, concaved, or corrugated shape by means of twoor more sets of intermediate rolls of the desired configuration, maleand female, whereby the surplus or accumulation between the rolls willbe rendered sufficiently rigid and self -sustaining to prevent unduebuckling, swaying, twist ing, or distort ion, and insure delivery fromone set of rolls to the succeeding set, the last set being soconstructed as to reduce the dished, concave, or corrugated material toa flat surface, as required ii -finishing.

Incidental to the sets of rolls constituting a continuous train or mill,and adapted to the conditions stated, I purpose using and arrangingbetween the sets of rolls which impartto the stock a concave or dishedform, and maintain this shape, a series of horizontal platforms, tables,planes, or guides, which are dished or curved to conform to the dish orcurvature of the blank or corresponding fetheir guiding proper ties andpositions the delivery of the metal from one set of rolls to another,said platforms or planes constituting in effect a continuous track-guideor conduit for the passage and guidance of the material from thestarting to the final or finishing pass.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a Vertical longitudinalsection of a rollingmill or continuous train constructed and adapted forcarrying my invention into eftect. l ig. 2 is a Front elevation of a setof rolls, respectively male and female, con structcd and adapted to dishor concave the blank. Fig. I} is a perspective view of: a section. ofthe blank having the dished or concave l'orm. Fig. 4: is a similar viewof a section of the linished stock or blank. Fig. 5 is an elevation ofthe Fin-reducing rolls.

Fig. 1 of the drawings shows live sets of rolls; but any suitable orconvenient number may be employed.

The rolls are mounted in housings in the ordinary way and provided withsuch appurtenances as are common and necessary in continuous-rollingmills.

In practice the dishing ot' the blank should begin after the first passand should be gradual, and may even advantageously begin with the firstset of rolls A. The dishing or concaving may, however, begin with anyset of rolls, and continue either uniformly or by gradual increasesuntil the lastset E has been reached. All the intermediate sets I: C Dwill usually be shaped to dish or bend the blank laterally, and theconformation or shape of the rolls is adequately shown in Fig. 2.

It should be understood that I do not conitiue myself to any particularbend, dish, or other lateral deflection of the metal from a horizontalplane, but show the concave dishin g or segmental shape merely as anillustration of the general idea or principle upon which my invention isbased.

1 I I J K designate, respectively, theplancs, tables, or guides locatedbetween the sets of rolls and grooves longitiulinally to receive andguide the metal from one set to another. These grooves are of a shape,width, and depth conformable to the curved or dished varying shape,width, and depth of the stock and re quire no detailed description.

In rolling metal according to the process above described a fine tin orhead gradually gathers or is formed on the edge of the blank, and thisshould be disposed of before the blank is finally straightened orflattened.

1 make adequate provision for the reduction and obliteration of the linby the use of the pair of rolls, which may be located between the lastreducing set and the flattening-rolls. The finrcdncing rolls are shownin Fig. 5, and consist of a plain roll G and a slightly-grooved roll 11.The groove L is rectangular and nearly equals in Width the desired widthof the finished product. The blank being contracted laterally by reasonof its bent or deflected form easily enters the groove, and by thecompression or impact of the plain roll has its rough or finned edgesforced into the angles of the groove and the fin or head compressed intothe body of the blank or reduced to a condition conformable to thercquirements of finish and good workmanship.

Ilaving described my invention, I claim In the manufacture of hoop,band, or strap metal by reduction through successive rolls, the methodof rendering the stock self-sustaining and facilitating its deliveryfrom one set of rolls to another, which consists in laterally bending,dishing, curving, or corrugating the blank during its reduction andfinally tlatteningthe same,snbstantiallyas described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this14th day ot. January, 1889.

DAVID LARKIN.

Witnesses:

WM. F. Lmosnv, .TAS. G. BELL.

